jbg
Active Member
I just finished Ben-Gurion by Michael Bar-Zohar. I never tire of reading books focused around the founding of the modern State of Israel. Indeed, one of the book's disappointments is not exploring how Ben-Gurion unilaterally picked the Jewish State's name when he announced its independence of May 15, 1948. I have often wondered why it was named Israel rather than after Israel's more successful sister kingdom, Judah. Indeed, we call ourselves Jews after the kingdom of Judah.
This book is a miraculous story about a miraculous man. Compared to most authorized biographies it is far from a hagiography. It does not elevate Ben-Gurion in death above what he was in life. Indeed, the description of the Lavon Affair and the beginning of his tragic, though inevitable decline was brutally honest.
A few quibbles. Like most biographies this book spends too much time on the subject's younger days, which were just not that different from other people's younger days. Like books about other prominent statesmen, too much time is spent discussing tawdry extramarital affairs, and the ebb and flow of marriages.
I will not spoil the book for others. The real shame is that most newly independent countries, after WW II, could not have been blessed with a totally incorruptible man of courage and, despite flaws, decency.
This book is a miraculous story about a miraculous man. Compared to most authorized biographies it is far from a hagiography. It does not elevate Ben-Gurion in death above what he was in life. Indeed, the description of the Lavon Affair and the beginning of his tragic, though inevitable decline was brutally honest.
A few quibbles. Like most biographies this book spends too much time on the subject's younger days, which were just not that different from other people's younger days. Like books about other prominent statesmen, too much time is spent discussing tawdry extramarital affairs, and the ebb and flow of marriages.
I will not spoil the book for others. The real shame is that most newly independent countries, after WW II, could not have been blessed with a totally incorruptible man of courage and, despite flaws, decency.
